The late former CEO of Fox Cable News Television, Roger Ayres, created two world-class news organizations: CNBC (National Broadcasting Corporation Financial Channel) and Fox Cable News Network.
Now, in addition to an autobiography, this mixed-reported news/political super player has added a TV series focusing on his career and later sexual harassment allegations: "The Loudest Voice".
This 7-episode limited drama jointly launched by SHOWTIME cable TV station and actor Russell Crowe is not only a masterpiece that completely restores the last ten years of the life of the press predator, but also a dark theme that hits people’s hearts and exposes the truth of life. , Allowing you to see all the shady scenes of news and TV stations at once!
The final episode of the series will be broadcast on Sunday this week. This TV series has caused a lot of noise in the United States since its inception. There are two main focus of discussion:
Oscar actor Russell Crowe made his first TV series appearance.
Over the years, many celebrities and actresses have joined the TV industry. This is nothing new, but this time Russell has transformed himself into a super "big fat man" in order to restore the protagonist Roger Ayres. More than 5 catties of silicone and cosmetics were applied to the face, and tights filled with polyester fiber materials were also worn under the clothes.
In the lens, you can no longer see the shadow of Russell.
Compared with the actor "Going to the Sea", the character archetype Roger Ayres in the play is much stronger.
Controversial personal life: In his personal life, Ayres is not only involved in multiple workplace sexual harassment complaints, but also has a close relationship with the current US President Trump.
Unquestionable business ability, execution and vision have written a proud career resume for him: the number one producer, directed the "Mike Douglas Show" at the age of 26, became Nixon’s media consultant at the age of 28 and served for three years. Served as advisor to the president and Republican strategist.
In just two years, CNBC (National Broadcasting Corporation Financial Channel) became a world-class news organization.
His more important record is to create a serious right-wing Fox News Network, known as a safe haven for right-wing forces. He successfully smashed a world in the news industry where left-wing tendencies were once dominant, and became an important position for the Republican Party’s campaign to build momentum.
"The Loudest Voice" focused on how he prepared and operated Fox Cable News Network and built it into the most valuable cable news network in the United States and even the world. It was full of fierce industry competition, market changes, and internal struggles. After the 9/11 terrorist attack, the number one historical event in the United States, there was no shortage of pressure and challenges.
Applying political thinking to the news industry: a word that pierces the essence of media market operations
At the beginning of the preparations for the Fox Cable News Network, he once said (TV series lines):
Cable TV stations only care about one thing: market segments. What we need to strive for is the loyalty of a few passionate people, and prescribe the right medicine according to our audience, and these are the people who are more likely to buy our bills. In politics, this is called "digging and expanding basic numbers."
This passage tells the true essence of media management.
In the final analysis, the media is also a commercial organization that emphasizes commercial interests. This requires them to find their audiences and customize the content they like to watch-even news content can be customized.
The world generates so much information every day. If you want to keep your ratings steadily, you need to filter out the news content recognized by the audience from the complex information world and push them to them, and make consistent content according to their tendencies. Comments and style adjustments ultimately reap the loyalty of the audience, which is the same as political campaigns.
There has never been a news media that is absolutely fair. Whenever there is information output, it will inevitably infiltrate the ideology of the information exporter. This tendency can be political, it can be religion, or it can be guided by commercial interests.
The loudest sound may not be the real sound!
This political/journalism super player has already raised the number of stages in the game several levels in the first episode.
Always leave a retreat for yourself, even if the road is very, very narrow
Although he took CNBC step by step to glory, the sex scandal still made him face the dilemma of being "persuaded" by shareholders. It seems that the tiger fell into Pingyang and was deceived by a dog, begging GE Chairman and CEO Jack Welch to let him go.
The CEO of General Electric is certainly not a vegetarian. He knows that he cannot be let go easily. It is of course a good thing that such a talent is in his camp, but if he can't stay, he can't let him stand on the opponent's side to deal with himself and take the stone. Hit yourself in the foot.
Therefore, the non-compete clause must be added.
Ayres showed understanding and proposed to make a list of all current competitors in the press, and Jack had the full authority to personally review and approve it. In this way, he would definitely not be able to go to any existing competitors to play against him.
Jack expressed his satisfaction with this seemingly foolproof proposal: A list of competitors reviewed by himself can eliminate any conflicts of interest that may exist in the future.
But what he didn't expect was that Ayres had secretly reached an agreement with Rupert Murdoch of the Fox Group at this time, and a year later, he was preparing to establish the Fox News Network.
In this way, Ayres created a competitor of MSNBC and CNBC out of thin air. Of course, this company that was founded twelve months later will not appear in the list of contracts signed at the beginning, so it will not constitute a breach of contract!
Both General Motors and Microsoft had nothing to do with him. They could only watch the super producer who had helped them make a difference and turned their heads with the new team and the new TV station to kill themselves by surprise.
But the crisis is far from over.
Be on the spot, play fast and slow
While Ayers was intensively recruiting troops to form a team, Disney announced that it would launch the ABC News cable network in eight months!
This means that the news market will add three new competitors including Fox News Network in a short period of time!
Ayres made a decisive decision to advance the launch of Fox News to six months later, shortening the preparation period by half a year!
The one-year preparation period is already a very urgent time for a new TV network. Now it has suddenly been shortened to half a year. Is it possible to do it?
At the moment he said this sentence, Ayres had already analyzed the whole situation clearly:
1. Time does not treat others
Originally, the two cable news networks of CNN and MSNBC, the U.S. cable news market has been nearly saturated, and now with the addition of Disney's ABC News Television Network (later cancelled), the entire news market will be overcrowded. If they follow the plan, that is, four months after the launch of the ABC News Television Network, the Fox News Network will be launched, the last Fox who enters the venue will lose the best opportunity to grab the audience.
2. The law of diminishing time for personal influence
At that time, Ayers was at the peak of his professional reputation. The sooner he made a big move, the more this gimmick could bring traffic, endorsements and talents to the new TV station. The longer the delay, the less influence Ayers will have. The negative impact of its sex scandal will bring more disadvantages to the counterattack.
And Ayres' influence was the main reason why Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of Fox News Group at the time, extended an olive branch to him: to use his influence to bring traffic and talent to the news network.
3. The gimmick is first, the momentum is important
Whether the news network can be 100% fully prepared when it starts broadcasting is not the key. The key is to create enough gimmicks before the opponent matures, rush to create a sense of existence, and accumulate the first audience for the TV station.
Dare to SAY NO against traditional outstanding candidates!
If you want to stand out among so many journalists, you must have a pioneering perspective, and you must have a perspective that captures the attention of the audience, and the practitioners themselves must be very bold and innovative.
As he said to the invited host:
That's why I invited you here: a loud, stubborn, and somewhat annoying tough guy. Don't worry about right or wrong, leave those to me!
This gimmick-first operating philosophy is reflected in his hiring standards. The candidate's origin, race, and religious belief will all become one of the evaluation factors.
A professional woman of Indian descent who had served the British BBC was rejected by him only because she could not get the ratings of the American Midwest (conservative state).
For employees who do not agree with their own operating philosophy, even if they are reporters hired by high-level officials, they will be fine-tuned.
Stephanie Rains, a journalist hired by News Corp from ABC at a high price, was squeezed away because she disagreed with Ayers' manipulation of the content of the conversation.
Ian: Our job is to convey information to the audience. This is our job. Ayres: People don't want to know information, Ian, they just want to feel that they "know the truth."
Soldiers in danger: ally with the government
The September 11 incident in 2001 provided a rare opportunity for Fox News to further consolidate the rightists, especially the American people who had been neutral before.
In order to incite public sentiment, it broadcast disturbing scenes of refugees jumping off buildings.
In order to strengthen the right-wing tendency of Fox News, and take this critical opportunity to attract and transform more neutral audiences, he personally went off to write a battle book for the president, willing to be the government's propaganda machine.
When the US government triumphed, Fox News triumphed.
In order to retain the audience, the relationship between Al Qaeda and Saddam was forcibly established, and without factual basis, the first report that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction was published.
Retreat as advancement, gather people's hearts
The conflict with Murdoch’s son Lachlan gave Ayres a sense of crisis in Fox News.
A package containing white powder, most likely a biological weapon, was delivered to the office of the New York Times on the tenth floor. The Fox Cable TV staff in the same building did not know it.
As the deputy chief operating officer of the group, Lachlan evaluated the situation in advance according to the procedures and only notified Fox News employees after confirming that there was no danger.
Ayres questioned that Lachlan's failure to notify the team in time was a disregard for the safety of his subordinates and a challenge to his authority.
As the head of Fox News, he cannot tolerate this behavior, even if the other party is the biological son of the group president.
This on-the-spot reprimand succeeded in gathering the hearts and minds of the staff of News.com.
But what comes with it may come from the suppression of the group president.
Ayres decided to act first, claiming that if the prince were to take control of Fox News, he could immediately retreat to the second line.
At that time, Fox was about to surpass CNN to become the world’s best cable news television network. At the point of view, the withdrawal of Ayres will seriously affect the realization of this super good news. Ayres has found a very good time to threaten himself. Boss.
Murdoch hadn't started to show off, and before he finished speaking about the family business, he was already defeated, and he promised to let his son regress.
The leading position of Fox Cable News Network is stabilized again!
Of course, "The Loudest Voice" has not forgotten the sex scandals and accusations that made the news industry crocodile abdicate. As the plot progresses, the audience also sees more details.
In the final episode of this Sunday, the friendship between him and Trump will also become one of the main plots.
Ayres is a complicated person, but he is a person who always knows what he wants, stands firm, is not afraid to fight for his position, and is not afraid of controversy, as the show said at the beginning:
I know how people will discuss after I die, and I can even think of the specific terms for them: right-wingers, paranoias, and fat people. I am a conservative, I do like to eat, and I believe in the power of television to give people what they want, even if they don’t know it is what they want.
Personal public number: DramaMatters
View more about The Loudest Voice reviews
